12.12.2016Langstrasse

According to a recent survey, a number of people confessed they would feel afraid at being alone on certain streets at night, with one location in particular mentioned.

The survey, in which 2,300 residents of the city over the age of 15 were asked, was conducted by the City Police earlier this year. It showed that one in five people felt unsafe on the streets at night, with one half of them avoiding certain areas altogether.

It may not be surprising to many that Langstrasse was found to be the place most people would fear to go to alone at night, with one quarter of people who live in District 4 considering their area to be less safe than others. Many considered the police should keep a careful eye on drug dealers, youths, drunks and foreigners in particular.

While only a minority felt there was need for increased patrols overall, others would like to see more policemen on the beat.

What was encouraging for the City Police to discover was that trust in them remains high, with half of those asked considering the police acted in an appropriate way for the most part. Only in the area of policing demonstrations, football matches and riots did a number feel the police could act better. Others would be happy to see more drivers and cyclists, in particular, stopped and checked, though the most important concern for the majority of remained security on the streets.

This article in the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper went on to say that the day when police officers were considered nice and helpful were gone, with one third of those asked considering constables to be rather, or very, unapproachable, intimidating or arrogant. Furthermore, others felt police dealt with certain groups of people, such as asylum-seekers or people who appeared to be foreigners, differently.

Taking note of this survey, senior police officer Daniel Blumer said he would take a close look at how officers behaved.

Out of interest, three-quarters of the people in the survey responded to questions online, with the remaining 25% answering on the telephone.